Evening Star Newspaper, November 30, 1930, Page 97

time of the occurrence. Being in the house at the time, my remembrance is quite clear that the Potomac was frozen to & density of 19 inches and wogons and horses were galloping over the ice. Happy boys were skating on the river, just f it had been a canal in Holland. They were regardless of the catastrophe, as if nothing at a'l had happened. When its owner came home he rejoiced that not one of his lit- tle children was buried in the ruins.” It was around this period that Mrs. Thorn- ton records in her diary a reference to the ser- mon Dr. Balch preached on the first Washing- ton’s Birthday after the General’s death. Her record says: “About nocon we returned home tc dinner, and returncd immediately after to George Town, where Dr. T—— stopped at the bridge and we prece:ded to the church, where, after a prayer and hymn, Mr. Balch delivered a funeral sermon. Th> people of the city and George Town joined, to show their respect to the late Gen. Washington-—-the society is too small for them to equal in pomp the other cities, but . they did their best—there were about 1,000 people assembled at the church.” DR. BALCH had humor as well as religion in his soul, and it is well that he did, for in his early days in the ministry in Georgetown it required a cheerful disposition to overcome the hardships of hunger and desperation which he probably more than once had to endure. W. 8. Jackson is responsible for secveral stories on the old doctor; one to the effect that: “He was a friend of Georgetown College in its infancy, and was a frequent visitor to the in- stitution and often dined with the priests of Catholic Trinity Church.” A good story on matrimony goes like this: *On one occasion this worthy man related that ® couple from Cooney—a district on the south side of the Potomac, mostly inhabited by the laboring classes, and called Cooney Neck— called at his house at midnight. He had re- tired to his badroom, and as he undressed pre- paratory to lyving down, he heard a rap at the front door. He raised the window and was informed that a couple at the door desired to ' be united in wedlock. He requested them to make ready and he would marry them from the window. The service performed, he wished them good luck and good night and requested them to leave the fea under the front door. Sure enough in the morning he found tucked under the door two shillings and sixpence. “On another occasion, from the same neigh- borhood a couple called about noon. They were invited into the parlor and were married. The usual command, ‘Salute your bride,’ was given, when the young man acted in an ignorant manner, which showed that he did not com- prehend th: command, when Dr. Balch called out, ‘Kiss your bride.’” Dr. Balch’'s wit was not confined to any par- - ticular occasion, and once “when performing the last sad rites of a wicked old man, of whom nobody remembered any virtue, after general remarks upon the solemnity of death, he con- cluded as follows: ‘I deem it my duty, in this sad hour, to say of the departed that we were schoolmates, and a finer mathematician I did not know.” Meeting a Methodist minister who complained to Dr. Balch that he was very ill in bed on Saturday but well enough on Sunday to preach against Calvinism, Dr. Balch replied: “Then, brother, Saturday was your best day.’” VAOOODsborymhldthevrlteronDr. Balch by the present pastor of the church, Rev. Prank Sergeant Niles, himself somewhat of a wit and a good piece of company, and a most worthy successor to the founder of the church. The story relates to the burning of Dr. Balch’s home, then at 3316 N street, in 1831. It seems that one of the duties with which Mrs. Balch was charged was to see what the logs in the fireplace were looked after be- fore she retired, in order that they might not roll out and set the place on fire; and this she failed to do. Naturally, the doctor was not the happiest sort of a man at his loss, and particularly to lose many of his records, em- bracing the history of the church and the city from the beginning of his ministry in George- town, and when some one asked him the extent of his loss, he curtly replied: *“I lost every- thing but the parrot!” Meaning, of course, his third wife, who was a Mrs. Jane Parrott of Easton, Md.,‘at the time she married Dr. Balch. The writer confesses that he had heard the story before, but the Rev. Mr. Niles repzated it in substance in a way that proved him to be a good story-teller. It is interesting to read of these old George- town landmarks and the people who resided there many years ago, and in no place do we find 2 more complete and accurate list than is furnished by the church records. For instance, one record book that evidently escaped the fire of 1831 at Dr. Balch’s home gives the following pew holac's in 1805-08: “James Calder, David English, Jonathan Finley, Eleanor Curlan, Wil- liam Knowles, Benjamin Betterton, Clephane & Makie, Jos'ph Weaton, Mrs. Templeman, Alex- ander Carmichael, William King, John Baltzer, William Thompson, Jasper M. Jackson, Chris- tian Kurtz, John Banks, Sarah Cruikshanks, Nathan Loughbors, Francis Clarke, Rcbert Ober, Nichclas Hedges, Richard Elliott, Jere- miah Mosher, John Craven, Daniel Reintzel, Daniel Bussard, Joseph Bromley, John Heugh, Prancis Dodge, Whetzel, Ezekiel King, John Maffit, Andrew Ross, Willilam Crawford, John Laird, Sarah Suter, Edgar Patterson, James A. Morsel, C. P. Polk, Joshua Dawson, George Thompson, Mrs. George French, Thomas Beall of George, David Peter, John Peter of Tudor Heights, William Whann, James Melvin, Jane White, Charles Love, James Dunlop, sr., and David Wiley. Pewholders in 1813-19. In addition to 29 of the old pew holders registered in 1806, the list ‘eontains the following new names: ‘“Carnahan, McKay, Doyle, Tenney, Kaber, George A. Gosz- ler, Forrest, T. H. Gillis, Henry Knowles, Pea- body, Crittenden, Cathcart, Swartz, Wilbert, Jacob Mountz, James Greer, Attwood, Milligan & Barnes, Belt, Joseph Arny, Isaac Bartlett, William Noyes, William Hardy, Talbot, William Crawford, R. Riggs, Robert Ould, Lavaly, Ellis, Walker, Michael Weaver, Renner, Getty, Wat- THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C., NOVEMBER 30, 1930. 3302 N street northwest, residence of Rev. Dr. Stephen Bloomer Balch at the time of his decease. son, Dunnihils Wingerd, Beall S. Bahror, David- son, Clementson, Musten, Robinson, Roberdeau and Charles E. Mix.” IN 1910, in an address delivered by the Rev. Benjamin F. Bittinger, D. D., then 86 years old, and who was brought up in this church, in speaking of the prominent members whom he recalled, said: “Yes, in my mind’s eye I can recall the many families as they occupied their respective pews, some of whom I will mention as present to memory, and as they were seen from my father’s pew. There was the family of Commodore Morris, whose daughter, Louise, was married to the banker-philanthropist, W. ‘W. Corcoran, and in whose memory was erected the Louise Home in Washington City. Then that of Elder Williamson, the daughter of whom, and the granddaughter of Dr. Balch, Mrs. Samuel Howell, who is at present a mem- ber of the church. Then David English, an- other elder and the father of Miss. Lydia S. English, principal of the Georgetown Female Seminary, at which were educated many daugh- ters of Senators and Congressmen from all parts of the country. Among these were Miss Harriet Williams, who caused a profound sen- sation by her marriage to Count Bodisco, Min- ister to the United States from Russia; and - Miss Jessie Benton, who married Gen. John C. Fremont, the California explorer, and, subse- quently, candidate for the Presidency. Then Rev. James McVean, the teacher of a school at which were educated many who became prominent, both in church and in state. “Among these and others who went out from the church may be mentioned Robert Ould, U. 8. attorney; John B. French, missionary to China; Alexander B. Hagner, justice of Su- preme Court, District of Columbia; Gen. George Getty, U. 8. A.; Henry C. Cameron, professor of Greek, Princeton University; Edmund C. Bittinger, chaplain, U. S. A.; Benjamin F. Bit- tinger, stated clerk emeritus, Presbytery of Washixgton City; Michael H. Bittinger, pastor of church in Greenville, W. Va.; Charles Herr, pastor of First Church, Jersey City; John Mec- Dowell Alexander Lacy, pastor of church in Norton, Va.; Robert G. Leetch, pastor of church in Far Rockaway, N. Y.” R. P. Jackson includes in his list of notable visitors to the Bridge Street Church Gen. Washington, while Dr. Bittinger mentions, be- sides Washington, in the list of “occasional hearers,” both Presidents Jefferson and Jack- son, and the former is recorded as having con- tributed toward the erection of the Bridge, or M Street Church. Dr. Balch served his congregation from 1780 to 1333, and the following divines have suc- ceeded to the pastorate of the church: John C. Smith, 1833-1838; R. T. Berry, 1838-1348; John M. P. Atkinson, 1848-1855; John H. Bocock, 1856-1861; Fred T. Brown, 1862-1865; A. A. E. Taylor, 1865-1870; David W. Moffatt, 1870- 1873; Samuel H. Howe, 1872-1883; Thomas Pul- lerton, 1884-1892; Willlam C. Alexander, 1893- 1908; James T. Marshall, 1908-1930, and the present pastor, Rev. Frank Sargeant Niles, who entered upon his pastorate here the early part of this year. 01' much interest in connection with this old church, naturally, is the graveyard that the congregation laid out about 1802, at which date the property of the cemetery and adjoining lots was conveyed to “Rev. S. B. Balch, pastor, and Thomas Corcoran, George Thompson, Wil- liam Whann, James Melvin, John Cruikshank, James Calder, Christian Kurtz, John Peter, David English, and Henry Knowles, members of the Presbyterian Congregation of George- town, for the exclusive use of the Presbyterian Church in Georgetown, adhering to the confes- sion of faith of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and to her presby- teries, synods and general assemblies.” In this connection, W. B. Bryan tells us: “The first death in the new city of & member of Congress occurred March 11, 1802, when Naiworthy Hunter, a delegate from the Terri- tory of Mississippl, passed away. The members of the two houses of Congress, their officers and the heads of departments walked in pro- cession from the house where he died, one of the _six buildings at Pennsylvania avenue and Twenty-first street, to Georgetown, ‘where he was buried in the yard by Mr. Balch’s meeting- house’ On the occasion of Representative ‘Daniel Hiester’'s death, two years later, both houses of Congress adjourned to attend the funeral, which was held at Lovell’'s Hotel, on Pennsylvania avenue, near Fifteenth street, where he died. Biscuits and wine were served at the hotel for the refreshment of the mem- bers of Congress who attended, and this ex- pense, as well as the crape bands which each member wore for a month and all other items connected with the funeral, was paid from the contingent fund of the House, of which the deceased had been a member. On this occa- sion the members of the two houses walked in procession ‘from Lovell's Hotel round the President’s Square,” and from that point the body was taken on through Georgetown to Hagerstown, where the deceased had lived. “A year later, according to the same author- ity, on a similar occasion, the members of the two houses, instead of walking, rode in carriages from the Capitol to the late residence and thence to the grave. At the house, wine, spirits and biscuits were provided as a part of the cost of the funeral, all of which was paid from the public funds. The following year, when James Gillespie of North Carolina, member of the House, died, the interment was made in the new burying ground in Georgetown.” ACOORDING to the “Biographical Directory of the American Congress,” the bodies of both Hunter and Gillespie repose in Congres- sional Cemetery, and if so, they evidently were removed there at an early date. R. P. Jackson records the following as having been buried in this old cemetery: “Robert Peter, the first mayor of Georgetown, died No- vember 15, 1806, aged 80 years; John Barnes, who was collector of the port of Georgetown for 20 years, and founder of the poor-house, died February 11, 1826, aged 96 years; James Gillespie, member of Congress from North Carolina, died January 11, 1805; Mary Bohrer, wife of John P. Bohrer, died August 8, 1844, in the 97th year of her age; Elizabeth Thompson died March 9, 1847, aged 87 years; William Waters, a soldier of the Revolution, died Au- gust 19, 1859, in the 93d year of his age; Col. George Beall, born in Georgetown, February 26, 1729, died October 15, 1807, in the 79th year of his age.” Selder M. Ely, in his list of Revolutionary soldiers buried in the District of Columbia, mentions as having been buried in this ceme- tery, besides William Waters, Col. George Beall, Rebert Peter, and John Barnes, the body of a soldier named Roberdeau and the remains of Daniel Heintz (or Hines), and no doubt there were others. The body of the wife of Chancel- lor Livingston was accidently found buried there some years ago and was removed to New York. This cemetery was between Fourth and Fifth and Market and Frederick streets (now the north side of Volta place, between Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth streets), and about 1908 was turned into a playground for school children. Mr. Birch then, and prior to that time, moved from this place to other cemeteries upward of 300 bodies. It was this undertaker’s father who, through the beneficence of the philan- thropist, W. W. Corcoran, removed the remains of Dr. Balch from here to Oak Hill Cemetery in 1874, and today the same tablet that was placed by the family in October, 1835, in front of the chureh he founded, now covers his last resting place. This white marble marker, rep- resenting pyramidal tablet, reads: “Sacred to the memory of Stephen Balch, D. D, who died September 22, 1833, in the 8Tth year of his age. He was the founder of this church, and for more than half a century its revered pastor. He planted the gospel in this town, and his example was for many a light to its inhabitants. He being dead, yet speaketh.” “Reliquia mortales Stephani Bloomer Balch, D. D, sub hoec marmore in humantue. His children have erected this tablet to record the virtue of the dead and the gratitude of the living.” Stephen Bloomer Balch was an American patriot—no clergyman should be less. At the top of his grave is the War Department’s stone that tells a story every son of a Revolutionary soldier likes to read. It simply but eloquently Capt. Stephen B. Balch Asmhkmmuryrmdnml‘htu'en repeat what W. S. Jackson has said: “After assuming charge of the academy on October 1, 1775, he was appointed captain of his pupils of age to be enrolled in the to a Mnowledge of the military exercises, tha$ militia. He trained the youths of his company they might be ready at any moment to ex= change their books for muskets, and they fole lowed him as their captain, always breasting danger where it existed. The field officers un- der whom he acted were Maj. Patrick Smith and Col. Alexander Sommerville of the Mary= land militia. His company consisted of between 40 and 50 youths, many of whom were larger than himself. He was on duty and did service as captain three years and was in actual serva ice against the enemy from December 1, 1775, to December 1, 1777. When the enemy ap- peared on the shores of the Patuxent River and Chesapeake Bay, he would march out with his company to assist in repelling them and suf- fered materially by exposure to the night air in that unhealthy climate.” The government recognized his services one year before his death by granting him a pene sion. He was'not only loyal when it meant much to bis country, but he came from a patriotic and loyal family, since his brother, Rev. Hezekiah L Balch of North Carolina, was one of those fmmortais who signed the celebrated Mecklen= burg Declaration of Independence, in May, 1775, and his name headed the list. Inside the Swiss Chapel in Oak Hill Ceme« tery is a nice mural tablet ordered by Mr. Core coran and mounted on the wall, and bearing the following inscription in gold letters: “In honor of BSiephen Bloomer Balch, D. D, Born on ‘Deer Creek,’ near Balt., Md, April, A. D, 1747. Came to Georgetown, D. C, March 16, A. D., 1780. Died September 22, A. D., 1833, He planted the Gospel in Georgetown. Founded ‘The Bridge Street Presbyterian Church.’ And was for more than 50 years its pastor., In life he practiced what he preached. No eulogy can add to such a record.” D}L BALCH was married three times and was the father of 11 children. His first wife, Elizabeth, was the daughter of George Beall, 2d, and he was married to her June 10, 1781. She was the mother of his large family of children. In 1827, when in his 82d year, and after having remained a widower for a little less than 16 months, he married Eliza- beth King, who died 18 days later. After waite ing for two years he tired a single life, and in his 85th year married Mrs, Jane Parrott, & widow, who survived him. His children, who left numerous descendants, were: Harriet, who married James R. Wilson, and after his death, Gen. Alexander Macomb; Anna Elinore, married Capt. James Campbell Wilson; Jane Whann, married Rev. William Williamson, whose descendants included Joseph A, Elizabeth and Jane L.; Joseph A. William- son, the father of Mrs. Marianne W. McGowan, Willam B. Williamson and S. S. Williamson, and the last named has two daughters, Mrs, Marianne Griswold and Miss Louise Williame son. Elizabeth Maria Balch, fourth daughter of Stephen Bloomer Balch, married Rev. Septimus Tustin; Alfred, the eldest son, became a dis- tinguished judge; Lewis Penn Witherspoon alss ascended the bench; George Ninian Beall, law« yer, was father of Rear Admiral George B Balch, U. S. N.; Franklin died young; Hezakiah James died in early manhood; Thomas Bloomer was a clergyman. His wife was a Miss Carter, a first cousin of the Confederate leader, Robert B. Lee. The life of Dr. Balch stands out as a good one to pattern from. Well might we take & page from his excellent record and bear in mind what the poet has said: “Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footprints in the sands of time; Footprints, that perhaps another, Sailing o'er life’s solemn main, A forlorn and shipwreck’d brother, Seeing, shall take heart again. Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate, Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.” A Cheap Hats Improved. I"Omae when I was returning from one of the most perfect vacations thas I have ever spent,” said Iris Hoey, who was in the limelight at thid Fall meeting of the Hobby Club, “I was sitting on the observation car of a transcontinentdl - i Ny B | 3ol 4 1k